Despite the topic being extensive, with ideas and opinions that are egregious amongst each and every individual, the purpose of our lives still stands out as being the most fundamental and a crucial topic of disquisition. ‘What is the meaning and the purpose of life?’ This is, perhaps, the most important question that has ever been asked. We all wrestle with this question at some point in our lives. In an abode filled with predilections and radical cultural conditions, it is a bit difficult for an individual to take a moment of thought about the objective of life and try to catapult at the truth about this world and the real purpose of life.
Confused and lost in the darkness?
Such a fundamental and an important question, ‘What is the purpose of life?’
Questions like ‘What is the purpose of eating?’ ‘What is the purpose of sleeping?’ ‘What is the purpose of working?’ and we can follow this line of question with a thousand questions or more and receive the same or similar answers from anyone in any language from any place in this world. Nutrition being the purpose of eating, rest being the purpose of sleeping and Necessity in order to support themselves and to provide for the needs of their families being the purpose of working, respectively.
These are the answers that we will get from any human being. A common sequential answer. Likewise, the question of our purpose in this life should and must have a common answer. Isn’t it? Why do we have so many different answers and assumptions? Are we confused? Do we actually know our purpose? Are we still stumbling in the darkness and not being able to contemplate and see the reality?
A ‘commonly presumed’ answer by others, is what our answer to this question has become. For some of us, the problem is that we will not utter what we have concluded through observations or analytic reasonings but rather we put forward what our father, friend or our teacher has said regarding this topic. And we have another set of people amongst us who will calmly and reluctantly say “I don’t know”. Basically they all just offer any answer they have been programmed to give.
Think about it
My dear brothers and sisters, is our purpose in this world simply to sleep, eat, dress, work, acquire some material things, enjoy ourselves and finally die one day? Is this our purpose? What is the purpose of our existence? What is the wisdom behind the creation of human beings in this tremendous universe?
My dear brothers and sisters, think about these questions.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
وَلِلّٰهِ مُلْكُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِ ۭ وَاللّٰهُ عَلٰي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ ۧ١٨٩ اِنَّ فِيْ خَلْقِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّھَارِ لَاٰيٰتٍ لِّاُولِي الْاَلْبَابِ ڌ ١٩٠ الَّذِيْنَ يَذْكُرُوْنَ اللّٰهَ قِيٰـمًا وَّقُعُوْدًا وَّعَلٰي جُنُوْبِھِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُوْنَ فِيْ خَلْقِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِ ۚ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هٰذَا بَاطِلًا ۚ سُـبْحٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ ١٩١
To Allah alone belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. (189) And Allah is Most Capable of everything. Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and night there are signs for people of reason. (190) They are those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and pray, “Our Lord! You have not created all of this without purpose. Glory be to You! Protect us from the torment of the Fire. (191).
(Qur’an 3:189-191)
In the above mentioned verses Our Creator is captivating our minds and our thoughts and allures us to the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alterations of the night and the day and the creation of the universe. He calls our attention to their creations and the precision in which they have been created by Him. As a matter of fact, when you see the design of all that Allah has created, you will realize that it is something very powerful and very precise. Something far beyond the human calculation and imagination.
These heavens and the earth, the nights and the days, they all have a purpose for their existence. Don’t they? Indeed, they do serve a purpose. So, don’t you think that we, being one of the creations, should have a purpose as well?
Everything has a purpose
Now, let us bring out thoughts and our analysis to the point where, when we see a building, an automobile or a skyscraper we automatically, without a second thought consider the person or the company that constructed it. These are just things that are manufactured by human beings with a purpose, yet our thoughts and our consciousness are impressed with the engineering dynamics that are involved. So, What about the complex human body? Such a massive and an intricate system. Do they serve any purpose? Think about the brain for instance, how it thinks, functions, retrieves, recalls and stores information, distinguishes and categorizes information in a millionth of a second……all of this constantly.
Think about the eyes, the heart, the perfectly structured bones, the tongue, the nose, the ears and all the endless blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us. They all serve a purpose. Every single thing that Allah has created serves a purpose and has a goal. From the smallest particles to the big stars and the vast galaxies, everything is running smoothly according to a perfect plan. The universe and everything it holds neither came into its being by an accident without having a purpose and nor does it run on its own. How can things in the cosmos run so smoothly for millions of years without a purpose ordained and anointed to it by the Creator?
Such questions are to be pondered upon.
Everything has ben created for human beings.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
ھُوَ الَّذِىْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مَّا فِى الْاَرْضِ جَمِيْعًا ۤ ثُـمَّ اسْتَوٰٓى اِلَى السَّمَاۗءِ فَسَوّٰىھُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمٰوٰتٍ ۭ وَھُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيْمٌ
He is the One Who created everything in the earth for you. Then He turned towards the heaven, forming it into seven heavens. And He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.
(Qur’an 2:29)
Allah has created the human beings as the most superior being in the universe.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
وَسَـخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَّا فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَا فِي الْاَرْضِ جَـمِيْعًا مِّنْهُ ۭ اِنَّ فِيْ ذٰلِكَ لَاٰيٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَّتَفَكَّرُوْنَ
(Qur’an 45:13)
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
وَاِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰۗىِٕكَةِ اِنِّىْ جَاعِلٌ فِى الْاَرْضِ خَلِيْفَةً ۭ قَالُوْٓا اَتَجْعَلُ فِيْهَا مَنْ يُّفْسِدُ فِيْهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاۗءَ ۚ وَنَـحْنُ نُسَبِّـحُ بِـحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۭ قَالَ اِنِّىْٓ اَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُوْنَ
(Qur’an 2:30)
Allah has created everything for humans and he created humans for himself.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
الَّذِيْنَ اِذَآ اَصَابَتْهُمْ مُّصِيْبَةٌ ۙ قَالُوْٓا اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّآ اِلَيْهِ رٰجِعُوْنَ
who say, when struck by a disaster, “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will ˹all˺ return.”
(Qur’an 2:156)
My dear brothers and sisters, take a moment and ponder over the above mentioned verses from the Qur’an where Allah is speaking with us and guiding us to realize that everything was created for us and we were indeed created for a purpose.
Created for nothing?
We are all aware of the fact that this world, in the journey of life, is but a station, not the destination. It is a place where we are sent to be tested. It is not a place to become lost in its wonders and temptations and be inactive, lazy or lethargic.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an; (23:115)
اَفَحَسِبْتُمْ اَنَّـمَا خَلَقْنٰكُمْ عَبَثًا وَّاَنَّكُمْ اِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُوْنَ
Did you then think that We had created you without purpose, and that you would never be returned to Us?”
(Qur’an 23:115)
This verse from the Qur’an proves that we were not created for nothing but rather for a specific purpose. This life is a one-time opportunity to achieve everlasting happiness in Hereafter. Every moment has a great potential if positively used to raise status and rank in the sight of Allah. Strong faith and good deeds bring peace and comfort in this life, in the grave and in the Hereafter. But nothing of the above mentioned can be achieved without knowing the goal and the purpose of our life.
What Allah wants us to do?
Is it possible to know what is expected from us? Are we left to our own devices without any communication from the Creator? Isn’t it natural that Allah Himself would inform us of this purpose, especially if we are expected and ordained to fulfill it….?
If we were created by Allah, then surely He must have had a reason and a purpose to do so. Thus, it is important for us to be cognizant of His purpose for creating us. The easiest way to perceive the purpose of an invention is to ask the inventor him/herself.
Allah informs us of our purpose:
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala says in the Glorious Qur’an;
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْــجِنَّ وَالْاِنْسَ اِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوْنِ
And I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.
(Qur’an 51:56)
This single verse from the Qur’an manifests and highlights the goal and the purpose of our life. The purpose of creation for all men and women for all times has been one: To know and worship Allah. Our ultimate objective is to worship Allah, abiding by the Divine guidelines revealed in the Qur’an and the Tradition of the Prophet. The ultimate goal of life is to seek the pleasure of Allah and attain paradise in the hereafter. However, this does not mean that Muslims should not have goals related to worldly pursuits.
Conslusion:
Allah the Almighty is showering countless blessings upon us every day. His universe and whatever is in it, is in constant service to mankind providing us with everything that is necessary for our survival. So many organs from head to toe are ceaselessly functioning within the human body, each being indispensable and irreplaceable. Every heartbeat, every single breath and every blink of an eye demands us that we should truly thank Allah, though we cannot thank Him enough for His blessings and to realize our true purpose of life.
If I were to give you a bottle of water to quench your thirst, you would at least vocalize the act with a simple ‘Thank you’. Won’t you? Then what about your eyes, your brain, your breath, your children, your parents, your life? Who gave you all this? Isn’t He worthy of Praise and Thanks? Isn’t He worthy of your worship and recognition?
My dear brothers and sisters, in a nutshell, to know and to worship Allah is the ultimate goal and purpose of this life. Our purpose in this life is to recognize The Creator, to be grateful to Him, to worship Him, to surrender ourselves to Him and to obey the laws that He has determined for us. It means worship is our purpose in life. Whatever we do in the course of that worship, (i.e., the eating, the sleeping, the dressing, the working, the enjoying,) between birth and death is consequential and subject to His orders. But the main reason for our creation is worship.
May Allah bless us, help us in understanding what our purpose of life is, guide us in all that we do and make us amongst those who worship Him.
سُبْحـانَكَ اللّهُـمَّ وَبِحَمدِك، أَشْهَـدُ أَنْ لا إِلهَ إِلاّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتوبُ إِلَـيْك
Glory is to You, O Allah, and Praise is to You. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.
